Drunk on rebellion (not alcohol) they massed in Glasgow's George Square, turning it into a Cairo of the north, writes QUENTIN LETTS

Rising optimism at the No vote knees-up, while at the big Yes vote gathering it was maybe as though someone had punctured a Li-Lo on the Dead Sea: they were still buoyant but the cushion of comfort had gone.

Glasgow, that has been the place for the Nationalists, that has been their citadel. It has certainly been more of a hubble-bubble cauldron than the official capital, Edinburgh. And it was where the action was as the polls closed.

The city's George Square, once a monument to British Imperial pomp, felt more like Cairo. Hooting, honking cars circled the square, flying flags from their windows and through the sun-roofs of top-spec Mercedes sports cars. Some of the Yes voters had even put up signs renaming it 'Independence Square'.

Nationalists were not drunk on alcohol so much as drunk on rebellion, on the idea of creating an event

Yes and No supporters faced each other in Glasgow's George Square as emotions ran high in the city

Teenagers brandished Socialist Workers banners that called for Prime Minister David Cameron to be deposed

Youths in Scotland gathered together in George Square yelling 'Here we ****ing go, here we ****ing go!'

At the No-vote party, campaign organiser Blair McDougall said his opponents had been celebrating too early for at least 10 days. He accused the Nationalists of over-confidence once the Sunday Times's opinion poll had been published two weekends ago, putting the. Yessers at 51 per cent. 'At that point the Nats almost stopped having an argument and started having a celebration,' he said. 'We spent every last second persuading the undecideds.'

Former Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore said he was not expecting to get to bed. There were telly interviews done, airtime to be filled.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Down at George (or Independenc, if you prefer) Square, a few motorbikes arrived, revving their throaty dengines. The place went nuts, excited Yes voters rushing to have a closer look.

They were desperate for something to happen, desperate for action. 'Here we ****ing go, here we ****ing go!' yelled youths who can not have been much more than 17. 'Scotland! Scotland! Yes! Yes!'

They were not drunk on alcohol so much as drunk on rebellion, on the idea of creating an event, of being present at a moment which they could place on their Facebook pages and later say 'I was there'. If nothing else, this referendum may have shown the consequences of lowering the voting age.

Teenagers brandished Socialist Worker banners that called for the head of government (D Cameron, wicked, wicked Tory) to be deposed. Studenty types smoked pot while schoolkids settled for Marlboros. I started an unofficial count of people who looked as though they might have mortgages or might work in offices. I reached five.

The police led away some Yes supporters who took their campaigning too far

Patriotic crowds drummed up support for an independent Scotland in Glasgow

Young voters were among the crowd, who cried and chanted for Scotland to separate from the UK

The police were called on to round up troublemakers in the packed George Square, in Glasgow

Crowds disillusioned with Westminster gathered together to show their support for the Yes camp

There were even a few Asian families - the first minority faces I'd noticed during this all-too narrow-minded referendum campaign. There was also a surprising number of young Japanese women, walking arm in arm in groups of two and three, plastered in Yes badges, giggling.

Drums beat a jungle rhythm. A bagpiper played a grooved-up version of the Star Wars tune. The average age must have been well under 30. Boy, Labour has a long-term problem in this city. Just as a generation of voters was reared to think that the Tories were the enemy, now a generation has been blooded, politically, to think of the Reds as the enemy.

At the Yes vote party, meanwhile, out came trays of chicken tikka masala. Waiters arrived with buckets full of wine bottles. Alistair Darling was upstairs, waiting for the moment he could arrive without looking cocky. Dull old Darling, cocky? Hard to imagine, somehow.

Scottish voters in support of referendum roared their approval for separation in Glasgow's George Square

Stuart Cullen (left) and Jesse Stuhr (right) from Glasgow celebrated the closing of the polls at 10pm

A youth takes a selfie during the gathering of Yes supporters in George Square, in Glasgow

The Glasweigan youth have been grabbed by the referendum and came out in support of the Yes campaign

A generation of young Scots have been blooded, politically, to think of the Labour Party as the enemy

Flares were set off in George Square as thousands of Yes campaigners gathered in the famous square

In the square, a bearded man walked with a banner saying 'BBC - infecting minds faster than bacteria' but the same might be true of the Nats. Like the Jesuits, they have grabbed the Glaswegian youth, maybe for years. The Yes youngsters were utterly devoted to their cause in a way the No lot were not.

At Edinburgh's railway station, before heading west to Glasgow, I bumped into Labour's Chief Whip, Rosie Winterton. She said she was fairly certain the result would go the way she wanted - a vote to keep Scotland in the United Kingdom. Miss Winterton had done several days on the doorsteps and claimed that voters were worried about financial security.

In Kelvinbridge I came across Jamie, a teacher (and No supporter) who had just arrived from Angola. He was struck there was more tribalism in Scotland now than in Africa.

At the Yes rally, Scott, an unemployed student administrator from Paisley, disagreed. He had seen busloads of Yes voters being transported to Polling places (not polling stations - that is an English expression, apparently) by Leftwing organisers. There was talk of 16 year olds being given t-shirts by the Yes campaign.

'Bristol says Yes - give England hope' read a big CND banner. What about the effect on England? Lee, a candlemaker from Govan, said that 'nationalism in Scotland is different from nationalism in England'. Indeed. The scenes in Glasgow yesterday evening may have been peaceful but might they not spark something nastier south of the border?

Share or comment on this article:

QUENTIN LETTS: Drunk on rebellion (not alcohol) they massed in Glasgow's George Square, turning it into a Cairo of the north. Scotland referendum results